we here at blupint are readers. the news, blogs, tweets, articles, even an occasional book. if its got words on a screen or a page we’re likely to take it in and form some sort of an opinion. in one of my most recent reading adventures i was enticed by a quote from Pio Schunker (the dude in charge of North American advertising and design at Coke). from a recent article in Fast Company, Pio said “[a]s life gets visually noisier, brands that dial back to their core essence stand out by contrast.” nowhere is this idea more evident than in coke’s red, silver and black cans, with their script and ribboned writing. it’s simple. it’s classic. it’s memorable. it’s the essence of their brand. and in the ever-changing world of product packaging, if coke put their classic red can on a shelf with the newly packaged competition – i’ll bet you my share of blupint that it would catch your eye.

there’s two thoughts that have stuck with me since reading that article. thoughts that run through my head before every pitch we walk into; and thoughts that i’m applying to the daily work we do at blupint. the first is that for this idea to reign true, to stand out in a noisy world by dialing back, it requires that a company first have a “core essence” they can dial back to. therefore, the first task for anyone creating a brand (or a business) is to create or identify that essence. that characteristic that makes you different. it can be something as  simple as a red can with cool ribboned writing, or something much more complex. whatever it is, it’s unique to who you are and it must exist. the second thought is that where ever this branding world goes, however innovative it gets or however it changes 50 or 100 years from now…  it will never hurt, and it will often help, to be in touch and revisit ones core essence. no matter how the world changes, if you can’t revisit and rely on your foundation, that one thing that made you different in the beginning… then you’ve got no chance for the future.

when we talk to clients these are things going through my head. i ask myself, “do they have that core essence? can they identify it? is it something we can build on or is it something we’re helping them identify and develop? is it something that will hold over time? and is it something we can dial back to?” blupint is focused on helping small companies build brands that resonate in the digital world. that’s our expertise and our niche. but that requires us knowing and understanding our clients core. and as far as i can tell, the struggles we face with clients are the same that the big guys do. coke, apple, nike… sure they’ve all adapted overtime, but every one has revisited and relied on their core essence at some point. it’s what’s helped them stand out and be successful. it’s what we try and do in all our work. so… if you’re a biz owner, an employee, or an agency helping build brands – you better be able to identify and rely on that core essence… your future will likely depend on it.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 10:41 am and is filed under blog.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.